Global reference targets are used to align more than one scan without the need to add targets to the part. They are also used to cover a larger area to gain better accuracy. One use case is scanning an automobile body. If global reference targets are set up on the body or in a reference frame around the body, then any single scan can be aligned to these targets. You can measure the distance from front to back with only one scan in the front and one scan in the back.

Global reference targets are very effective when scanning parts in a production environment. Once a framework of global reference targets is set up, parts can be moved into the frame work, scanned, and auto aligned. Multiple scans can be automatically aligned. This significantly reduces the time to both scan and analyze the data.